What Can UVA Students Do to Reduce Their Impact?
If you are a UVA student or any college student for that matter, you might feel like there isn’t much that you can do to help climate change or you may find it hard to find ways to get involved. In this blog, I will outline a few ways that students can adjust their habits to be more environmentally friendly and name some resources in our community that could help you make an impact.
Credit: UVA Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs
Leave Your Car at Home
Much of UVA is walkable, and even the places that are further away from grounds are often accessible by bus. UVA is making many green changes to improve its transit system, soon beginning to implement electric buses. Regardless, buses are a great way to reduce the number of cars on the road and reduce CO2 emissions. Start by looking into Transloc, the UVA bus app, and see how you can implement their routes into your daily schedule. Places like Barracks Road shopping center and John Paul Jones Arena are all accessible by bus and are especially helpful as a first-year student.
Join an Environmental Club or Volunteer
Do you want to have a direct influence on school policies and want to make a bigger impact? Consider joining UVA sustainability clubs and supporting green initiatives done by the school.
A few clubs to consider are:
Sustainability Advocates program
Zero Waste Ambassadors
Environmental Stewardship Subcommittee
Beyond those three there are many other clubs and student organizations that help the sustainability of our community. Find out more information about the clubs listed above and others here.
If none of those interest you or the application period is closed, consider volunteering! UVA has many opportunities for students throughout the semester such as volunteering for a UVA green football game, helping out with the student garden, or even volunteering at C3! To find out more about volunteering dates, click here.
Slow Down Fast Fashion
Did you know that sixty percent of clothes are thrown out within the first year of purchase? The fashion industry is the second largest contributor to global pollution, second only to the oil industry. SO much water and energy are used to make our clothes yet so much of that production goes to waste within a year. To help do your part to combat the damaging effects of fast fashion, consider buying eco-friendly clothing, or more realistically with the budget of a college student, consider buying clothes at a consignment shop. Here is a link to a list of local consignment and thrift stores in Charlottesville so you can start saving money and the environment.
Rock the Vote
With the midterm elections quickly approaching us in Virginia, we are all given an opportunity to cast our ballot for a candidate we believe in. As individual citizens, we can only do so much, but members of Congress and the Senate have many opportunities and resources to create great change for our country. If you find someone that you support, consider advertising their name to students on grounds or volunteering for their campaign to increase voter awareness for your candidate, and make sure to vote!
Midterm elections in Virginia will take place on November 8th, 2022. If you want to register to vote in Virginia or check your registration status, click here. To learn more about the candidates on the Virginia ballot, click here.
Credit: UVA Sustainability
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
We’ve all heard it a million times, but it really is a super easy way to make an impact. UVA sustainability has done a great job to make it very easy for us students to recycle by placing labeled bins for compost, plastic, and paper in academic buildings, so you might as well follow what they are indicating for us to do. Not only do 60 million water bottles end up in US landfills every day but also use ¼ of a bottle of oil is used to transport, cool, and dispose of every water bottle. There are so many water fountains around grounds that there really is no downside to carrying around a reusable water bottle, and more importantly, it saves you money. Consider using a reusable water bottle to cut down on your waste, and the same goes for reusable bags and utensils as well.
As college students, time is a precious resource, but even within our busy lives, there are many ways that we can transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. Consider adding a few of these activities into your routine and see the positive impact you can have on our environment.
Sources:
https://theyearsproject.com/latest/10-ways-college-students-can-live-more-sustainabily
https://drinkflowater.com/blog/the-real-cost-of-bottled-water-2/
https://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/.../275-down-the-drain
Thanks for Reading! This list is by no means exhaustive, so feel free to send in other ideas for ways college students can reduce their carbon footprint to: peter.moore@theclimatecollaborative.org